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Missouri Fiction

Missouri and the Ozarks provide the setting for these titles representing a variety of genres. From Amish romance to psychological thrillers and everything in between here are titles to interest everyone in the family, each one celebrating an aspect of life in the Show-Me State.

The Boneshaker by Kate Milford
When Jake Limberleg brings his traveling medicine show to a small Missouri town in 1913, 13-year-old Natalie senses that something is wrong and, after investigating, learns that her love of automata and other machines make her the only one who can set things right.

Cheyenne Raiders by Robert Jordan writing as Jackson O'Reilly.
Yale-educated Thomas McCabe accepts a position with the Office of Indian Affairs and is soon sent to live among a nomadic tribe in the wilds of Missouri. After saving the life of a young brave, Thomas is grudgingly accepted by the Cheyenne--until he falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful Night Bird Woman.

Clair De Lune by Jetta Carleton.
The time: 1941, at the cusp of America's entry into World War II. The place: southwest Missouri, on the edge of the Ozark Mountains. A young single woman named Allen Liles has taken a job as a junior college teacher in a small town, although she dreams of living in New York City, of dancing at recitals, of absorbing the bohemian delights of the Village. Then she encounters two young men: George, a lanky, carefree spirit, and Toby, a dark-haired, searching soul with a wary look in his eyes. Soon the three strike up an after-school friendship, bantering and debating over letters, ethics, and philosophy-- innocently at first, but soon in giddy flirtation -- until Allen and one of the young men push things too far, and the quiet happiness she has struggled so hard to discover is thrown into jeopardy.

The Hillbilly Debutante Cafe by Kathie Truitt.
Welcome to El Dorado Springs, Missouri, population 3,021. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it doesn't take long - anytime at all, really - to realize there's much more than meets the eye.

That's how Molly McCarty feels, anyway. Molly moves back to her hometown and buys the abandoned Serenity Farm. Molly acclimates herself to life in a small town with the help of her best friend, Jennifer Papula, who is only too happy to share the town's most recent juicy gossip.

The Last Voyage of the Steamer Barnard Clinton by David E. Unruh.
Captain Culpepper’s 235-foot-long sternwheeler, the steamer Barnard Clinton, is going to try to make a record second trip in 1866 to the head of navigation on the Missouri River. The railroads are expanding, and the successful trip of the big steamboat has attracted the attention of some unscrupulous railroad investors. They would like the big steamer to fail, and to this end, they have hired several bad characters to join the steamer on her upriver voyage. They intend to sabotage the vessel, and if there is loss of life, so much the better. Culpepper and his crew will have to deal with these outlaws, low water, other outlaws, Native Americans, and a young pilot who can’t seem to keep the Clinton off the bottom of the river. And, as if he didn’t have enough on his mind, the captain is distracted by a beautiful but mysterious lady.

Love Comes to Paradise by Mary Ellis.
Nora King believes she is a woman in love. When Elam Detweiler leaves the ultraconservative Amish district of Harmony, Maine and moves to Paradise, Missouri, Nora follows soon after. But does she love the man or the independence and freethinking he represents?

Moon Pool by Max McCoy.
Mystery and mythology collide in this intelligent thriller, which is set largely in the uncharted depths of an underwater mining city beneath Bonne Terre, Mo. Time is running out for Jolene trapped by a madman, held captive, naked, hidden in an underwater city 400 feet below the surface. Her only hope is Richard Dahlgren, a private underwater crime scene investigator who has until the next full moon before Jolene becomes just another hideous trophy in the killer’s surreal underwater lair.